Paul Stensrud talks with Mike McKell, left, who is homeless and living under Interstate 65. The area offers little other assistance for those who have no other place to live.

Written by

Michael Stoops
| Special to The Courier-Journal

During the 1980s and 1990s it was common for jurisdictions to pass the buck on who was responsible for dealing with the homeless. Some communities thought that the existing private charities could deal with the growing numbers and changing faces of the homeless, while others thought it was solely the federal government's responsibility with no city/county/state involvement. This debate was finally resolved with the passage of the first federal homeless initiative, the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.